Rate My Professor Griffin Pivateau

Griffin Pivateau is the Puterbaugh Professor of Legal Studies and Ethics in Business and Director of the Center for Legal Studies and Business Ethics in the Department of Management at Oklahoma State University's Spears School of Business. He holds a Juris Doctorate from the University of Texas School of Law (1990) and a Bachelor of Arts from McNeese State University (1983). Before entering academia, Pivateau practiced law in Louisiana and Texas, where he advised clients on employment matters, including drafting and revising employment agreements, policies, and noncompetition agreements. His litigation experience encompassed first-chair jury trials, appearances in Texas state appellate courts, and arguments before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. He began his academic career as a Lecturer at Sam Houston State University (2008–2009) and joined Oklahoma State University in 2009 as Assistant Professor of Legal Studies, promoted to Associate Professor in 2015 and Professor thereafter, assuming the Puterbaugh Professorship in 2016.

Pivateau's scholarship investigates employment law's influence on the business environment, with emphasis on employer-employee relationships, worker classification, dispute resolution mechanisms, and restrictions on employee mobility. Notable publications include 'The Worker Classification Dilemma: The IRS Test and the Platform Economy' (Texas Tech Law Review, 2021), 'Prospects and Pitfalls: Confronting Sexual Harassment in the Legal Cannabis Industry' (American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & Law, 2020), 'Opposite Sides of the Same Coin: Worker Classification in the New Economy' (Hofstra Labor & Employment Law Journal, 2019), 'The Prism of Entrepreneurship: Creating a New Lens for Worker Classification' (Baylor Law Review, 2018), and 'Putting the Blue Pencil Down: An Argument for Specificity in Noncompete Agreements' (Nebraska Law Review, 2008). He authored the treatise Oklahoma Employment Law (LexisNexis). His research has been cited by the Federal Trade Commission in its 2024 rule banning noncompete clauses, the Nebraska and Nevada Supreme Courts, the Delaware Court of Chancery, and various federal and state courts. Pivateau has received the Jackson Lewis Employment Law Best Paper Award (2021), Oklahoma State University Regents Distinguished Teaching Award (2017), Greiner Undergraduate Teaching Award (2017), and Richard W. Poole Research Excellence Award (2011). He has presented at Academy of Legal Studies in Business conferences, led study abroad programs in Ireland, Spain, France, and taught international courses. Additionally, he delivers seminars to corporations and human resources professionals on discrimination and employment topics, and serves on university committees such as Faculty Council and the Retirement and Fringe Benefits Committee (Chair, 2018–2020).